911 Call Released After Jaguar Attacks Woman at Arizona Zoo

Officials have released the 911 call after a jaguar attacked a woman at the Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix.

The woman reportedly climbed over a barrier at the zoo before trying to take a photo. Then, the big cat clawed her arm, according to officials.

An unidentified employee at the zoo tells the 911 dispatcher that a woman was attacked by “one of our jaguars,” and her arm is “in pretty bad shape,” AzCentral reported on March 10.

The 911 operator advised the employee to keep pressure on the wound.

“Don’t take the cloth off. If it bleeds through, just put another one on top of that, OK?” the operator told her.

“OK,” the employee added. “She’s in, like, pain, like really bad pain.”

“We’ve got the fire department en route. We’re going to be there shortly,” the operator responded.

The employee then described her breathing as “all right,” saying she is in her 30s.

A jaguar, one of an endangered native species of Amazonian fauna, lies at a natural reserve certified by the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Natural Resources, located on the shores of the Rio Negro in Manaus, northern Brazil, on Oct. 2, 2008. (Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images)

The victim’s name was not revealed. According to AzFamily, she has since apologized to the zoo for getting too close.

Kristy Morcum, a spokeswoman for the zoo, told the news outlet that the woman loved the zoo and “feels horrible about the bad publicity the zoo is getting regarding the incident.”

The woman also admitted she was in the wrong.

A spokesman for a local police department confirmed that the woman was trying to take a selfie near the jaguar enclosure when one reached out and clawed her.

Won’t Be Euthanized

On Twitter and in news reports, the zoo said the jaguar will not be euthanized following the incident.

“Lady got what she deserved. If you put the jaguar down, I’ll NEVER go there again,” wrote a woman on Twitter. The Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park in Arizona responded to her.

“She won’t be put down,” the zoo wrote back.

“We can promise you nothing will happen to our jaguar,” the zoo told CNN. “She’s a wild animal and there were proper barriers in place to keep our guests safe … not a wild animal’s fault when barriers are crossed. Still sending prayers to her and her family.”

“There’s no way to fix people crossing barriers,” said zoo director Mickey Ollson, AzFamily reported in another article. “That happens occasionally. And we put substantial barriers there and if people cross them, they can get in trouble.”

The zoo, in another tweet, wrote that people need to understand “why barriers are put in place,” adding it is “sending prayers to the family tonight.”

Meanwhile, witness Adam Wilkerson said, “The claws that were retracted were definitely outside of the cage and grasped around her hand, and she holding her other arm, with her arm attached to the paw just screaming, screaming, screaming, to get out,” according to AzFamily.

“She took her one paw off and grabbed the bottle with her mouth, but her other paw was stuck on the lady’s shirt,” said Michele Flores, who helped rescue her.